El Torkey: “Farag is a Role Model” | Farag: “He’s Very Talented”

Following in the footsteps of Ali Farag is a tall order to say the least, but that’s exactly what Egypt’s Kareem El Torkey is hoping to do. 

Still just 19 years of age, El Torkey recently won his first PSA Tour title, capturing the 3rd Bangabandhu Squash Tournament Presented by Ispahani in Dhaka, a PSA Challenger Tour 6 event. 

Like El Torkey, Farag also won his first tour title as a teenager, claiming the 2011 Open Du Gard in France to kickstart what has become an illustrious career to date. 

Both players play their squash at the same club, the Wadi Degla in Cairo, which also boasts former world champion Raneem El Welily and current World No.2 Nouran Gohar among its members past and present. 

At 11 years Farag’s junior, El Torkey is yet to have the chance to practice on court with the four-time world champion, but that’s not to say he hasn’t learnt plenty already from a player he grew up idolising. 

Speaking about Farag, he said: “We play at the same club, so I see him a lot and he’s a role model for me. 

“I speak to him a lot too. I’ve never had the chance to play with him on court, but I hope I’m going to be doing that soon. 

“He knows that I’m a good player and he sees that I should be a top player, and that’s so good for me to hear, coming from a No.1-ranked player.” 

When asked about El Torkey in return, Farag himself was full of praise for the young star, saying: “I’ve always thought Kareem was a potential World Junior Champion. 

“Obviously with the injuries he’s had and travelling over to the States to study, he’s had a different path and a tough couple of tournaments at the World Juniors. 

“The sky is the limit for his potential, he’s a talented player and if he gets his head together he will be a dangerous player to keep an eye on for the next decade or more. 

“He’s studying now. I don’t know if he is going to play full-time afterwards, but if he does he will be a great addition for our sport because he is one unique character and a unique squash player. 

“He’s very talented and very likeable.”

Farag’s first title 12 years ago was followed immediately by his second, winning the MeerSquash Heroes Open shortly after the Open Du Gard. 

Both were 5k tournaments, while El Torkey’s next two events will be PSA Challenger Tour 15 competitions in South Africa and the USA. 

Despite the step up in standard, the young Egyptian is aiming high, and has his sights set on emulating Farag’s back-to-back success, even though he’ll be testing himself at a new level. 

“I’m going to South Africa for my first 15k in November,” he said. 

“Then I’m going to Denver, in the United States, and that’s my second 15k. I hope that I can win one of them.  

“I’m dreaming high because they always say, ‘aim for the sky, reach the ceiling… aim for the ceiling, reach the floor’. At the beginning of either next year or the year after, I want to be a top player, maybe top 50, so I’m looking forward to it.” 

Said ceiling may be high for the 19-year-old Egyptian, whose win in Bangladesh followed a pair of impressive performances as an unseeded player both stateside and in Scotland. 

He reached the final of a 10k event in Houston and then the semi-finals of the 12k Springfield Scottish Squash Open, coming out on the wrong side of an epic five-game battle with eventual winner Edmon Lopez in the latter. 

All-in-all, it’s been a promising couple of months for a player who started playing for fun with his brother, only entering tournaments at the persuasion of his coaches. 

“My older brother – Omar El Torkey – used to play squash for fun, and when he was around eight years old and I was five, I used to play with him,” he said, when asked how he got into the sport. 

“I liked the game and the coaches started telling me, ‘you should play squash, you’re good at it, so I gave it a shot. 

“The coaches kept telling me that I was so good that I should enter tournaments, and from then, when I did enter, I started winning and then it became part of my life.”

Life and squash are now fully intwined for El Torkey, who – currently at a career-high world ranking of No.123 – will play his next three tournaments on three different continents. 

Top 50 may be the goal within the next year or two, but in the immediate future, there’s a closer milestone to crack. 

“All I’m looking for right now is to break through into the top 100,” he said. 

 “That is the hardest part, and once I break through it, I’m going to set goals to get higher from there.”